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London Bridge attack: Convicted murderer among people who tackled terrorist Usman Khan

James Ford, who murdered Amanda Champion in 2004, was among members of the public who tried to stop Usman Khan at London Bridge.

James Ford murdered Amanda Champion in a completely random attack
Image: James Ford murdered Amanda Champion in a random attack in 2004
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A convicted murderer was among members of the public who tackled the London Bridge terrorist after his deadly knife attack, it has been revealed.

Several civilians intervened to drag Usman Khan to the ground near Fishmongers' Hall on Friday before he was shot dead by police.

It has emerged one of the group was James Ford, who admitted murdering a woman with the mental age of a 15-year-old in 2004.

Moment attacker pinned down and shot

Amanda Champion, 21, was strangled and slashed across the throat by Ford in a completely random attack in Ashford, Kent.

He was caught after a Samaritans worker broke a vow of anonymity to tell police that a man who had phoned the confidential service 45 times had confessed to killing a woman.

Ford had attended the prisoner rehabilitation conference at Fishmongers' Hall where Khan launched his deadly rampage on Friday, in which two people were killed and three others injured.

A source told the PA news agency that Ford was one of several ex-offenders who intervened and they were all either on day release or had been released on licence.

More from London Bridge Attack 2019

Others who tackled Khan included a man who sprayed the terrorist with a fire extinguisher and another man, named in a reports as a Polish chef called Lukasz, who lunged towards him with a whale tusk.

Witnesses described how the chef had grabbed the five-foot narwhal tusk from the wall of Fishmongers' Hall and was stabbed in the hand as he tried to stop Khan.

Terrorist is subdued by public with fire extinguisher and tusk
Man fends off terrorist with giant tusk

A man who works at the Prison Reform Trust was also named as one of the people who confronted Khan at Fishmongers' Hall.

Marc Conway, a policy officer at the charity, had reportedly attended the prisoner rehabilitation conference and headed towards the attacker, joining others who grappled with him.

British Transport Police confirmed one its officers, who was off duty and in plain clothes, helped tackle Khan on London Bridge and he was seen removing a knife from harm's way.

Chief Constable Paul Crowther said: "The courageous actions he took when faced with the horrors of this attack are remarkable.


A man removes a knife from the scene of the London Bridge attack
Image: British Transport Police said man removing a knife from the scene was an off-duty officer

Another of those who helped drag Khan to the ground before armed police arrived on the scene was 24-year-old tour company manager Thomas Gray.

Mr Gray said he tried to force Khan to release one of the knives he was carrying by stamping on his wrist, but both blades appeared to be taped to his hands.


Mr Gray said he hid behind a school bus "full of kids" before hearing "two or three" shots fired by police, which hit the attacker before he "hit the deck".

preview image
All angles of the London Bridge terror attack

Despite his brave intervention, Mr Gray has insisted that he is not a hero, saying: "I did what any Londoner would do and tried to put a stop to it."

Tour guide Stevie Hurst, 32, also ran towards Khan on London Bridge, having been driving over the river at the time.

He told The Telegraph how he kicked Khan in the head after he was forced to the ground.

"We wanted to make sure we got the knife away from him as quickly as possible," he said.

"We wanted to kick him. Everyone was shouting. The knife flew away. The moment they rolled him over off his chest, they saw he had a bomb vest.

"The police arrived so quickly. They told us 'get the f*** back', they had rifles. They put three rounds into him."

A kitchen porter named Mohammed is also said to have joined the effort to corner the terrorist - before returning to work that afternoon at the bar he is employed by, according to The Sun.

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